How SimplyOriginal started their logo design journey

Summary

We are an independant specialist fine food producer that develops, markets and sells our own range of unique deli-style food products. Our original brand logo was something we put together in a rush as a short-term concept to get the business moving, but now we are growing we are expanding in a number of ways that require us to have a more polished, considered brand identity. See description section below for more information.

Company name

Simply Original Fine Foods

What inspires you and how do you envision the design for your business?

What the web site doesnt say is that the business is expanding into events including cooking demonstrations, intimate dining experiences and we are finishing the build of our new commercial kitchen from where we will be running cooking classes for small groups of keen foodies.

Wants

- A brand and identity which can be used on a number of different products - eg labels on jars, and also be used as part of a corporate identity on promotional & marketing material
- Crisp, clean lines
- Contemporary typeface - no cursive script, remember the labels will need to include ingredients, nutritional information panels, etc - typically on the rear of the jars so typeface is important
- A design which reflects the concept of "simple and original" and our company ethos
- Bear in mind that the brand could be part of a display in a specialist food store or deli, so it needs to be easily adaptable so different products stand out and it doesnt blend into a bland display - eg some form of theme that allows a symbol, picture or part of the wording to be changed for each product but within a style that clearly shows the link to a prominent brand
- We like ideas which use the initials "S O" or some construct which reads "So" to represent the company name
- Designs which imply "the finishing touch" or "putting the finishing touch to..." are interesting to us
- The base design should use a limited number of colours so that each product can potentially be "personalised" through its own colour variant in the label somewhere
- The brand and identity needs to work well on all corporate communications - including a new web site, business cards, stationery, marketing banner, etc, etc
- Final designs in vector format

Don't want

- A logo which is just a tidy-up of the existing white on black artwork
- We do not want busy, flowery artwork - keep it clean & simple but flexible that it could be used on a range of products and literature
- We dont want cooking utensils, cooking equipment or appliances included in any part of the design
- We dont want cursive script